Derek Poundstone Interview

[Wynn]

The World's Strongest Man competition is going on in Malta. I wonder if it is webcast somewhere.

timesofmalta.com - Brawn...lots of it

 

[Thor]

Just met him last week

The World's Strongest Man competition is going on in Malta. I wonder if it is webcast somewhere.

timesofmalta.com - Brawn...lots of it

he was at a bike show that I went to and he had a nice custom chopper that he rode there with his wife/GF, he lives about an hour from me. I have a few pics of him and his bike. he was very friendly. He stands 6' 1" and was currently weighing 320!

 

[Flex2019]

I live in CT where he is from and have met him a couple of times. Also, one of my shop's customers trains with him sometimes. Nice guy to talk to.

 

[GYMnTONIC]

I'm Derek's long time training partner, if anyone has questions (legal and non AAS related)

I also worked for WSM for many years as event coordinator and a judge so I have some cool stories for those who are fans of Derek

Still see him here an there, though he is very busy with his kids, new promotion to Seargent as a Police officer.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

I am/was such a Derek fan when he was at his peak. Felt like he couldve had a long WSM career if it wasn't for that DL injury (if i'm not mistaken). Dude was an animal.

 

[GYMnTONIC]

I am/was such a Derek fan when he was at his peak. Felt like he couldve had a long WSM career if it wasn't for that DL injury (if i'm not mistaken). Dude was an animal.

There was alot more to it tbh
But I will say he is happy and healthy today.

I know he took Rob Kearney under his wing and half of what Rob is doing is result of Derek's training

We had a group of 25-40 strongmen. I think I was the only bodybuilder at the time that converted.

We had more pro athletes then any other training group in the entire US for many years. Olympic lifters, PL, Strongman and others.

Derek tried to make a return but he tore his bicep off

For me, when I converted to SM, I tore off my quad and my tricep. Both are attached with kevlar. I have a partial pec tear to this day and I have a partial bicep tear too.

SM was my favorite. I competed in BBing, strongman, PL and highland games. Loved SM the most

The cool thing was working for them. I judged guys like Mariusz Pudzianowski, brian shaw, magnus ver magnusson, phil pfister, and i worked with Bill Kaz. all the time. So many legends and as a staff we would go out to eat and hang out at hotels and casinos afterward.

I have alot of stories, and consider myself very very lucky to have been in such a position.

I only got the job bc Jesse Marunde got me into SM. When I was his Mod and Admin when he passed away, Callie hired me. She is and has been married to Nick Best for awhile.


My daughter was actually Dereks Flower girl at his wedding. We had such a blast. Everyone there was beyond jacked LOL.
It was a sight to behold. SM make bodybuilders look small

 

[TheOtherOne55]

Dude, thats amazing and im sure you have great stories. Honestly, watching WSM early Saturday mornings as a kid got me into strength and football and bodybuilding. Seeing huge guys do huge fetes of strength made me WANT to be superhuman. And honestly, my body was made to PL and do SM more than BBing....but in doing all that stuff, PL tore me to shreds. Love all that stuff, but its an injury game and i couldnt handle the "whats next to tear" game anymore. At least BBing has allowed me to chase all my favorite training goals while still allowing me to be in the game. The biggest baddest dudes in the game (PL and SM) are just genetic freaks who never got injured.

I remember Josh Bryant was the first dude i hired to train me and dude basically has been indestructible since a teenager. Just luck of thee draw.
But i still love training and all strength sports. Guys like Pfister, Magnus Ver Mag, Mariusz, Magnus Sammuleson, Marunde, Hugo Girard, Mark Felix, and Mark Philippi were guys i loved watching

 

[GYMnTONIC]

I remember Josh Bryant was the first dude i hired to train me and dude basically has been indestructible since a teenager. Just luck of thee draw.
But i still love training and all strength sports. Guys like Pfister, Magnus Ver Mag, Mariusz, Magnus Sammuleson, Marunde, Hugo Girard, Mark Felix, and Mark Philippi were guys i loved watching

Met and hung out with every single one of them

Mariusz (besides Derek) was the most impressive specimen I ever saw. Pound for pound he just devastated people

I recall watching him during a contest maybe in 2005? He was just eating a bag of hershey kisses the whole time with a 12 pack. Maybe insulin? I never asked him what he took

Mark Felix has the biggest hands I have ever seen. May as well be catchers mitts.

I was there when Hugo Snapped his leg on an event. I think it was an ATV carry if I recall? 2 atvs/

Mark phillip, I think legit he was natty. Probably the only strongman I know that was LOL

Found a few of my old Badges/passes to be able to work WSM.

Enjoy our discussion. I can tell you know what you are talking about. Not many people know the sport as well as you do.

 

[Reno911]

Met and hung out with every single one of them

Mariusz (besides Derek) was the most impressive specimen I ever saw. Pound for pound he just devastated people

I recall watching him during a contest maybe in 2005? He was just eating a bag of hershey kisses the whole time with a 12 pack. Maybe insulin? I never asked him what he took

Mark Felix has the biggest hands I have ever seen. May as well be catchers mitts.

I was there when Hugo Snapped his leg on an event. I think it was an ATV carry if I recall? 2 atvs/

Mark phillip, I think legit he was natty. Probably the only strongman I know that was LOL

Found a few of my old Badges/passes to be able to work WSM.

Enjoy our discussion. I can tell you know what you are talking about. Not many people know the sport as well as you do.

View attachment 183576

Didn't Mariusz get popped for nose beer one year at WSM?

 

[GYMnTONIC]

Didn't Mariusz get popped for nose beer one year at WSM?

2004
He won the comp and then days later he was disqualified and they took away his award

Everyone assumed he tested for steroids

They dont test for steroids. EVER. That's the funny thing

He tested positive for cocaine
During the contest he was actually there with several hot polish women, who didn't speak English and regularly traveled with them. He was drinking beer and doing cocaine off one of their asses. Still won the contest. In style

It's funny bc alot of people ask me about that story and assume it was PED's.

Well I mean cocaine is a PED.

Mariusz used to be a prick. When we first met him in early 2000s he wouldn't speak to any of us. Once Derek beat him he kinda relaxed a bit and then would go to dinner with us and hang out and speak what little English he did.

I was there in 2008. I got my brother in law front row tickets. So during the contest he was talking shit to Pudz the whole time. I was like Paul shut your mouth. Me and my brother in law are long time lifters, but not big guys. And Mariusz is also a pro fighter. You don't wanna mess with him

So My bro in law was like Pudz, I bet you $5 bucks that Terry Hollands beats you in the yoke. So Mariusz took the bet. The whole time my bro in law is yelling "fuck you Mariusz" and Im like Paul shut the hell up. Were gonna get beat up LOL
So the event comes. They take off.

Terry beats Pudz by less then a second. So the whole time my bro in law just keeps yelling you owe me $5 bucks.

After the event, Mariusz has to borrow cash from the announcer to pay his debt. He was so frustrated, I saw him go into the athlete area and get into this huge blowout fight for like 15mins w his girlfriend.

She was this super hot petite Blonde. Maybe 100lbs and gorgeous.

Anyways even after that my family was like take me down to get photos. So I did/ so my bro in law got a photo w pudz to show the $5 bucks he won

I thought Pudz would kill us.

The funny thing was after that at every contest he would always come see me and ask me to go to dinner with them after. And I always did.

But the whole thing was nuts.

That mans strength is un-wordly. Trust me, him and Derek would make any human being look stupid in a gym no matter how big you were.